Bell Asset Management Ltd Lowers Position in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Bell Asset Management Ltd decreased its position in shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 1.2% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 6,971 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 84 shares during the period. Bell Asset Management Ltd’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $3,300,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in MCO. Asset Planning Inc purchased a new stake in Moody’s in the fourth quarter worth $42,000. OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new stake in shares of Moody’s in the 4th quarter worth about $41,000. Albion Financial Group UT bought a new position in shares of Moody’s in the 4th quarter worth about $45,000. Activest Wealth Management purchased a new position in Moody’s during the 4th quarter valued at about $47,000. Finally, Sunbelt Securities Inc. grew its holdings in Moody’s by 101.9% in the third quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 109 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $52,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MCO has been the subject of several recent research reports. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of Moody’s from $570.00 to $520.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on Moody’s from $459.00 to $533.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Mizuho began coverage on Moody’s in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $504.00 price target for the company. Oppenheimer increased their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $543.00 to $545.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, Citigroup initiated coverage on shares of Moody’s in a report on Friday, December 20th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $565.00 target price for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Moody’s currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $523.43.

Moody’s Stock Down 9.2 %

Moody’s stock opened at $401.74 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $72.27 billion, a PE ratio of 35.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81, a quick ratio of 1.67 and a current ratio of 1.47. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $482.15 and a 200 day moving average of $478.89. Moody’s Co. has a one year low of $360.05 and a one year high of $531.93.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The business services provider reported $2.62 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.27 by $0.35. The firm had revenue of $1.67 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.70 billion. Moody’s had a net margin of 29.03% and a return on equity of 58.94%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Moody’s Co. will post 13.95 EPS for the current year.

Moody’s Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 25th were issued a dividend of $0.94 per share. This represents a $3.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.94%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 25th. This is a positive change from Moody’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. Moody’s’s payout ratio is currently 33.36%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Moody’s news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 415 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $463.08, for a total value of $192,178.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 62,824 shares in the company, valued at $29,092,537.92. This represents a 0.66 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 1,258 shares of company stock valued at $610,936. 0.14% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Moody’s Profile

Moody’s Corporation operates as an integrated risk assessment firm worldwide. It operates in two segments, Moody’s Analytics and Moody’s Investors Services. The Moody’s Analytics segment develops a range of products and services that support the risk management activities of institutional participants in financial markets.